OPEC Output Drops 1.2 Percent on Libya-Led Disruptions, IEA Says

By Nayla Razzouk -
Jul 11, 2013

OPEC crude oil production in June
dropped by 370,000 barrels a day, or 1.2 percent, mainly because
of worsening supply disruptions in Libya, Nigeria and Iraq,
according to the International Energy Agency.

The 12 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries pumped 30.61 million barrels a day last month compared
with 30.98 million barrels in May, the Paris-based IEA said
today in its monthly oil-market report. That level still exceeds
a target of 30 million that the group reaffirmed at its last
meeting on May 31.

“Mounting civil unrest by oil workers in Libya led to
shut-ins of oil fields and export terminals while oil theft
activity in Nigeria inflicted further damage to oil
infrastructure,” the IEA said. “Iraq output was constrained by
pipeline damage in the north and bad weather in the south.”

OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s crude,
estimated that its own production fell to 30.38 million barrels
a day last month, according to a report yesterday by the Vienna-based group based on secondary estimates. A drop in Libyan
output of 207,000 barrels a day led the decrease, along with
cuts by Nigeria and Angola, OPEC said.

The IEA reported that Libyan crude production fell by
200,000 barrels a day last month to 1.15 million barrels and
that Iraq’s output hit a three-month low when it decreased by
150,000 barrels a day to 3.05 million barrels. Nigeria’s output
fell for a third consecutive month in June, dropping by 70,000
barrels a day to 1.88 million barrels, the IEA said.

Saudi Increase

Output from Venezuela, Algeria and Kuwait also declined in
June, while production was unchanged in the United Arab
Emirates, Qatar and Ecuador, according to the agency.

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil output rose by 100,000 barrels a
day to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest level in seven
months, on increased domestic demand for crude during the peak
summer cooling season in the desert country, the IEA said.
Iran’s production was 2.7 million barrels a day in June, up
20,000 barrels a day from the previous month, it said.